Minerva Urecal

Minerva Urecal
File:Minerva-urecal-trailer.jpg Minerva Urecal in trailer for "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964)
Born	Minerva Holzer (1894-09-22)September 22, 1894 Eureka, California, U.S.
Died	Glendale, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Radio, stage, film, and television actress
Years active	1933–1966

Minerva Urecal (September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American actress

Life and career

Born as Minerva Holzer, Urecal was originally a radio and stage performer. She made her film debut in 1933. She played largely uncredited roles, such as secretaries, laundresses and frontierswomen. She began working in television in the 1950s, favoring westerns. She guest starred on CBS's My Friend Flicka and the syndicated The Range Rider. She had a recurring role in the 1953-54 CBS situation comedy Meet Mr. McNutley in the role of the dean of a women's college. She also played Billie the Barber in the 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger as "Billie the Great".

In 1957, Urecal had her only starring television role on the syndicated The Adventures of Tugboat Annie, playing the role originated by Marie Dressler in Tugboat Annie (1933) and continued by Marjorie Rambeau and Jane Darwell in two movie sequels. Later that year, Urecal appeared as a landlady in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse". For the 1959/60 season, she took over the role of "Mother" on Peter Gunn for the ailing Hope Emerson.

In 1962 she played a "monster housekeeper" on the Danny Thomas "Make Room For Daddy" show, episode 'Kathy the Pro.'

In 1965. she made a second appearance on Perry Mason, this time as Martha Glenhorn in "The Case of the Lover's Gamble". In 1960, she appeared on the Walter Brennan ABC sitcom The Real McCoys in the episode "The Gigolo" and in the Western series Whipering Smith in the episode "Swift Justice". She was cast as a maid in the 1961 episode "Call Me Mother" of the CBS sitcom Angel, starring Annie Fargé. Her final television appearances were in 1965-66 on Petticoat Junction.

Death

Urecal never married. She died in 1966 from a heart attack in Glendale, California, aged 71.

Partial filmography

• Exiled to Shanghai (1937)
• The Go Getter (1937)
• Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
• Sons of the Pioneers (1942)
• Kid Dynamite (1943)
• Crazy Knights (1944)
• Louisiana Hayride (1944)
• The Lost Moment (1947)
• Holiday in Havana (1949)
• The Lovable Cheat (1949)
• Sudden Danger (1955)
• Double Jeopardy (1955)
• Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)
• 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)